All of Eugenia Snowe’s problems start when Edward Reeve, an arrogant bastard son of an earl, bursts into her registry office. He wants a governess and he wants her. She gives him the governess he demands, but she refuses to give herself.

No question that Eugenia enjoys crossing wits with the brilliant inventor, but she will never tarnish her reputation with an affaire, particularly with a man who doesn’t realize she’s a lady!

She holds her ground…until he kidnaps her.

Ward will stop at nothing to convince Eugenia that they’re meant to be together. He promises her heaven.

She gives him seven minutes.

Seven Minutes in Heaven is the third book in the Desperate Duchesses by the Numbers series by Eloisa James and it was a romance that was so easy to fall into and love.

Mrs. Eugenia Snow is a widow who owns a registry. That registry pairs up governesses with families that need good governesses. She’s good at her job but when Edward Reeve, the bastard son of an earl comes to her office and kind of bulldozes his way into her life, she’s taken by surprise. She knows that she’s lucky to have found love once before so she wasn’t expecting Ward. She wasn’t expecting to fall in love with not only Ward but with his young siblings.

Ward is desperate. He needs to find a governess for his two young siblings that he just found out about before their grandmother gets her way and takes them away from him. These two young children have been through a lot in their short lives and they need someone in their corner. They need stability and they need someone to take care of them. Ward isn’t the best choice for them but they’re his to take care of and he doesn’t care what he has to do to keep them away from their grandmother, he was going to fight to keep them and that is why he needs Mrs. Snow so much. He needs her to send one of her governesses to teach his siblings how to act, teach them life lessons and all the stuff they need to learn to prove that he’s a good choice as guardian.

When his siblings run off one more governess from Mrs. Snows Registry, Ward becomes even more desperate. He goes right off the crazy train and before we know what’s what, Mrs. Snow herself is staying at his place, acting as governess to his siblings and things are turning around. She’s good with kids and even though his siblings grew up in a colorful environment, thanks to their mother’s colorful life (his mother ran away from the aristocracy with a much younger man causing a giant scandal), if he has any prayer of keeping his siblings, he has to live a life on the up and up. It doesn’t matter that he’s the only person that wants the best for his brother and sister. It doesn’t matter that they want to live with him. What matters is the case coming up. What matters is sacrificing his own happiness for them.

Ward’s happiness is wrapped up in Eugenia Snow. Their relationship has grown by heaps and bounds ever since she came to stay with them. In such a short amount of time, she’s become important to him and the same can be said for her. The chemistry between them was sweet and it was strong but it doesn’t last as long as I was hoping because Ward doesn’t know who Eugenia is. He’s the bastard child of an earl so it made sense to me that he wouldn’t know who she is. How connected she is. He gave her up because he felt he had to and my heart hurt for the both of them.

Eugenia’s love for Ward and the kids really shines in this book. The way that she stood up for herself when she finds out why Ward turns her away. The way that she stood firm in what she thought was right, really worked for me. Eloisa James wrote a wonderfully romantic historical romance that hit me in the feels, made me laugh, sigh and cry a little bit. This book was great and I’m so glad that I read it.

Lady Lucy Towerton:Plain and tall. (According to the lady herself.) Titled and irreproachably proper. (According to her fiancé.)

Until, overnight, she becomes

Lady Lucy Towerton:Heiress. (Thanks to an aged aunt’s bequest.)Belle of the ball. (So say the fortune hunters of the ton.)

In charge of her own destiny (finally!), Lucy breaks her engagement and makes up her mind never to be proper again…

NOTE: This novella is related to "The Duke Is Mine" and includes Olivia Lytton.

I’m so fired.

I decided last month that I was going to make a noticeable dent in my TBR pile and participate in the book blogging community more so I signed up for the TBR Challenge hosted by Super Librarian Wendy. I picked out my books, I made sure that my January book was downloaded onto my kindle and then I made sure that I read the book in plenty of time to get it reviewed and scheduled.

I read the book. I wrote the review and then I forgot to schedule the review so you’re getting this month’s entry late. Sorry, I swear that I’ll do better next month. 🙂

Anyway, on with the review…

So January’s entry is all about the short story and I chose a book that I’ve been wanting to read for a long ass time. Winning the Wallflower by Eloisa James. Eloisa James write fabulous historical romances and I knew that I was going to like this one because Ames liked it. We have similar reading tastes so I went into this one with high hopes and those hopes definitely played out well for me.

Lucy is a wallflower. She’s always overlooked and partying in the corner with the other wallflowers at every ball. When Cyrus asks for her hand in marriage, her parents grudgingly accept. They don’t want Cyrus in the family because his mother is a disgraced daughter of a lord of the ton, a woman who ran away and married a commoner. Cyrus is determined to turn things around for his family so that his sisters will get their shot at a season. He needs to marry someone above reproach and he finds all of that in Lucy.

Lucy knows that her marriage to Cyrus is not a love match but when she realizes how little Cyrus knows her and how much he doesn’t want to get to know her, she decides that she wants more than a marriage of convenience. She can afford to be picky because she came into an inheritance from her dead Aunt so she breaks things off with Cyrus and is surprised when Cyrus takes a genuine interest in her and pursues her in earnest.

Watching these two get to know each other and fall slowly in love with one another was a treat. Eloisa James is a pro at wrapping me up in feels and this short story was no different. It was fun to see Cyrus jump through hoops to win Lucy’s heart and I was so satisfied in the end. Cute and fun, you won’t regret reading this.

This series has been on my TBR pile for quite a while now. I should definitely pick these books up because it sounds really good and Eloisa James writes great historical romances. A Gentleman Never Tells by Eloisa James promises to be another fantastic novella from a popular series.

A Gentleman Never Tells by Eloisa JamesEssex Sisters Series #4.5Released on June 28, 2016 by Avon Impulse

A witty, sexy novella about a virgin widow and a rake with something to prove.

Eighteen months ago, Lizzie Troutt’s husband died in his mistress’s bed, leaving her determined to never marry again….and unfortunately virginal.

Eighteen years ago (give or take a few) the Honorable Oliver Berwick blackened his own soul, leaving him hardened and resolutely single.

When the chance for redemption in the form of a country house party invitation comes his way, Oliver is determined to prove himself a gentleman.

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Excerpt

“I would prefer to take supper on a tray.” Lizzie didn’t look up from her book, because meeting her sister’s eyes would only encourage her.

She should have known Catrina wouldn’t back down. “Lizzie Troutt, your husband died over a year ago.”

“Really?” Lizzie murmured, turning a page. “How time flies.” In fact, Adrian had died eighteen months, two weeks, and four days ago.

In his mistress’s bed.

“Lizzie,” Cat said ominously, sounding more like an older sister—which she was—with every word, “if you don’t get out of that bed, I shall drag you out. By your hair!”

Lizzie felt a spark of real annoyance. “You already dragged me to your house for this visit. The least you could do is to allow me to read my book in peace.”

“Ever since you arrived yesterday, all you’ve done is read!” Cat retorted.

“I like reading. And forgive me if I point out that Tolbert is not precisely a hotbed of social activity.” Cat and her husband, Lord Windingham, lived deep in Suffolk, in a dilapidated manor house surrounded by fields of sheep.

“That is precisely why we gather friends for dinner. Lord Dunford-Dale is coming tonight, and I need you to even the numbers. That means getting up, Lizzie. Bathing. Doing your hair. Putting on a gown that hasn’t been dyed black would help, too. You look like a dispirited crow, if you want the truth.”

Lizzie didn’t want the truth. In fact, she felt such a stab of anger that she had to fold her lips tightly together or she would scream at Cat.

It wasn’t her sister’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault except her late husband’s, and he was definitely late—i.e., dead.

“I know you feel ashamed to be in company,” her sister continued, energetically digging her own grave, as far as Lizzie was concerned. “Unfortunately, most people are aware the circumstances of your marriage, not to mention the fact that Adrian was so imprudent as to die away from home.”

That was one way of putting it.

Imprudent.

“You make it sound as if he dropped a teacup,” Lizzie observed, unable to stop herself. “I would call the fact that Adrian died in the act of tupping Sadie Sprinkle inconsiderate in the extreme.”

“I refuse to allow you to wither away in bed simply because your husband was infatuated with Shady Sadie,” Cat said, using the term by which the gossip rags had referred to Adrian’s mistress. “You must put all that behind you. Sadie has another protector, and you are out of mourning. It’s time to stop hiding.”

“I am not hiding,” Lizzie said, stung. “I take fresh air and moderate exercise every day. I simply like reading in bed. Or in a chair.”

Or anywhere else, to tell the truth. Reading in a peaceful garden was an excellent way to take fresh air.
“Moderate exercise,” her sister said with palpable loathing. “You used to ride every day, for pleasure. We would practice archery on a fine day like this, or roam about the countryside, not sit inside reading.”

“Adrian’s stables were part of the entail, and went to his cousin,” Lizzie said, turning the page. She hadn’t read a word, but she was hoping that a show of indifference would drive her sister from the room.

“Not the mare that Papa gave you when you turned fourteen!” her sister gasped.

Showing masterly control, Lizzie didn’t roll her eyes. “A wife has no true possessions,” she said flatly. “Under the law, they belong to her husband, and Perdita was, therefore, transferred to the heir.”

“Oh, Lizzie,” Cat said, her voice woeful.

“It wasn’t so terrible,” Lizzie said, meaning it. “I went to the auction, and Perdita went to a family with a young girl. I’m certain that she is well cared for and happy.”

“Do you realize that by staying home and wearing black, you give the illusion that you are grieving for your husband?”

Lizzie’s hands tightened around her book. “Do you know what being a widow entails, Cat?”

“Wearing ugly black dresses for the rest of your natural life?”

“It means that I never again need put myself under the control of a man—any man. So, no, I have no interest in joining you at dinner. I know perfectly well that Lord Dimble-Dumble has been summoned to audition as my next husband. I don’t want him. I’d be more likely to come to dinner if you had invited the butcher.”

“I couldn’t do that,” Cat said, in a sudden digression. “Mr. Lyddle has developed a most unfortunate addiction to strong ale, and he’s regularly found lying about in the gutter singing, rather than butchering meat.”

“Who does the butchering now?” Lizzie asked, deciding to take a walk to the village and see this interesting musical event herself.

“We might begin with the fact that you were never in love with Adrian.” Cat began walking around the bedchamber, waving her hands as she waxed eloquent about her late brother-in-law’s flaws.

She was preaching to the choir, so Lizzie stopped listening and just watched Cat pacing back and forth. How could it be that her older sister was positively frothing with life and energy and passion, while Lizzie felt like a tired, pale shadow?

Her hand crept toward her book. It wasn’t the most interesting novel in the world, but it had the inexpressible charm of being new.

Over the last eighteen months, Lizzie had read every novel she owned three times over. She would be quickly bankrupted if she bought more than two books a week, so one of the best things about visiting Telford Manor was access to her sister’s library.

Cat appeared to be hopeless at arranging a refurbishment of the manor—which desperately needed it—but she was very good at ordering novels. And clothing. If Lizzie looked like a black crow, Cat was a chic French peacock.

Lizzie raised her knees, surreptitiously propped her book against them, and slipped back in the story of Eveline, a sixteen-year-old girl being forced to marry an old man. She herself had been twenty when she walked down the aisle.

On the shelf.

Beggars can’t be choosers, her father had told her.

Her book suddenly vanished. “No reading!”

Cat was holding the novel above her head, for all the world as if they were children again. Lizzie used to hope that someday she’d grow up to be as commanding as her sister, but she had given up that idea long ago.

It wasn’t just a question of height. Her sister was the type of person who gathered everyone in a room around her, and Lizzie was the type of person whom they walked over on their way to be with Cat.

That sounded resentful, but Lizzie didn’t actually feel bitter. She would hate to be the center of attention. She wound her arms around her knees and propped her chin on them. “Cat, may I have my book back, please? It was a hard journey, and I’m tired.”

“What do you mean, a hard journey? It can’t have been more than a day and a half!”

“My coach is over twenty years old and the springs are worn out. It bounced so hard on the post road that I couldn’t keep my eyes on the page, and my tailbone still hurts.”

“If your jointure won’t extend to a new vehicle, Joshua or Papa would be happy to buy you a coach.”
Lizzie turned her head, putting her right cheek on her knees, and closed her eyes. “No.”

She heard her sister drop into the chair by the side of the bed. Then she heard a sigh. “Papa is getting old, Lizzie. He made a terrible mistake, and he knows it. He misses you. If you would just pay him a visit . . .”

“No.”

Why would she visit the father who had turned her away when she ran to him in desperation? The father who had known precisely what a disaster her marriage would be, but didn’t bother to warn her?

An hour or so after their wedding ceremony, Adrian had brought Lizzie, still wrapped in her bridal veil, to his mother’s faded, musty house, and informed her that he had no intention of living with her.

Not only that, but he was late to meet his lover for tea.

It had happened almost six years ago, but she could still remember her stupefaction. She’d been such a silly goose.

“But where do you live?” she had stammered.

“I bought Sadie a house, and we live there,” Adrian had said casually. When she frowned in confusion, he had added impatiently, “Sadie. Didn’t your father tell you her name?”

“Sadie? ”

For the first time—and in her experience, the last time—her husband had been a little defensive, even a trifle ashamed. “I never lied. He knows perfectly well that we will lead separate lives.”

“Perhaps you should explain to me,” Lizzie had said, “because my father unaccountably forgot to mention it. As did you, I might add.”

Adrian had unemotionally laid out the terms of her marriage. It seemed her father had paid a great deal of money to buy his daughter the title of Lady Troutt. For his part, Adrian had wed her for her dowry, and because he needed someone to care for his mother.

“The estate is entailed,” he had told her, glancing around the musty sitting room. “It goes to some distant cousin, along with the title, of course. I told your father that I wouldn’t be averse to trying for a child, once we’ve had time to get used to each other.”

Lizzie had just gaped at him.

“But we can’t bother with that now,” Adrian had told her briskly. “Sadie is upset about this mess, naturally enough. I promised her I’d be home by four. My mother takes her luncheon on a tray. There are a couple of maids, but it would be good if you could bring it in yourself. She complains of being lonely.”

After that, he left.

A few minutes later, Lizzie left as well. She went home.

Only to be sent back to her husband’s house.

There was no point in revisiting her father’s line of reasoning. Suffice it to say that no woman—even one who had abundant sensuality and beauty, which Lizzie did not— was capable of seducing a man who didn’t return to the house for a fortnight.

A man who doesn’t bother to consummate his marriage until he’s suffered a heart seizure and has, as the vulgar might put it, been given notice to quit.

A man who despises his lower-class wife, and never bothers to hide it.

Series

Giveaway Alert

About the Author

ELOISA JAMES is a New York Times best-selling author and professor of English literature who lives with her family in New York, but can sometimes be found in Paris or Italy. She is the mother of two and, in a particularly delicious irony for a romance writer, is married to a genuine Italian knight.

The arrogant Duke of Trent intends to marry a well-bred Englishwoman. The last woman he would ever consider marrying is the adventuresome Merry Pelford— an American heiress who has infamously jilted two fiancés.

But after one provocative encounter with the captivating Merry, Trent desires her more than any woman he has ever met. He is determined to have her as his wife, no matter what it takes. And Trent is a man who always gets what he wants.

The problem is, Merry is already betrothed, and the former runaway bride has vowed to make it all the way to the altar. As honor clashes with irresistible passion, Trent realizes the stakes are higher than anyone could have imagined. In his battle to save Merry and win her heart, one thing becomes clear:

All is fair in love and war.

I haven’t read too many books by Eloisa James but I was really looking forward to reading this book. It just sounded like a good one and when I finally got my hands on this one, I was more than a little stoked.

I’m super thrilled to report that I enjoyed the heck out of this book. It made me laugh, it made me roll my eyes but it also made me swoon with delight. I finished the book and closed it with a big ol’ grin on my face because sigh It was a lovely romance.

Merry is engaged again (three times the charm, right?) with a totally respectable man and she’s determined to get all the way down the aisle this time around. Everything was going swimmingly until she meets her fiance’s brother…and likes him. But she’s already given her word and she really doesn’t want to be the laughingstock of England since she’s already the laughingstock of America. She’s already got two broken engagements under her belt and she really doesn’t want another one but the longer she’s around the Duke of Trent, the more she likes him and the more he falls for her. What a pickle to find yourself in but I thought James handled this story wonderfully.

Reading this book reminded me why I started reading romance, historical romance to be exact, in the first place. The escapism game in this book is strong. I was swept right up in the romance between Trent and Merry. I loved the angst of not being able to be together and then watching them fall in love. Trent’s brother was a great “villain” in this book and I’m looking forward to reading his book.

Merry was such a likable heroine. I loved all of the facts that she would spout off at random. I loved her relationship with her Aunt and Uncle and I really liked who she was around Trent. If I had a complaint about Merry, it would be how long it took for her to end things with Cedric but aside from that? I adored her. She was a great heroine, one that I connected with at every turn.

Trent was a fantastic hero. I loved that he was a self-made rich guy who found the woman he was going to marry after one conversation. I loved that he tried to be noble and stay away for his brother’s sake but I also loved that he didn’t stay away. I loved seeing the softer side to him as he tried to make Merry happy. Even when he was a bonehead, I loved him.

This book delivered a great romance that made me laugh, happy sigh and even cry. Eloisa James is an author that I will try not to miss from here on out because I really enjoyed this one.

Sunday Spotlight is a new feature we’re running in 2016. Each week, we will spotlight a release that we’re excited about. We’ll be posting exclusive excerpts and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂

Eloisa James has written some fantastic historical romances and I’m always excited when she comes out with new stuff. After reading the summary for this book, I knew that I wanted to read it. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a romance where the runaway bride falls in love with someone, not her fiance? It sounds so good!

I was super thrilled when our friends at Avon were very interested in being this week’s Sunday Spotlight.

My American Duchess by Eloisa JamesReleases on January 26, 2016 by Avon

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The arrogant Duke of Trent intends to marry a well-bred Englishwoman. The last woman he would ever consider marrying is the adventuresome Merry Pelford— an American heiress who has infamously jilted two fiancés.

But after one provocative encounter with the captivating Merry, Trent desires her more than any woman he has ever met. He is determined to have her as his wife, no matter what it takes. And Trent is a man who always gets what he wants.

The problem is, Merry is already betrothed, and the former runaway bride has vowed to make it all the way to the altar. As honor clashes with irresistible passion, Trent realizes the stakes are higher than anyone could have imagined. In his battle to save Merry and win her heart, one thing becomes clear:

All is fair in love and war.

Ooh, we get some kissing action in this excerpt.

Excerpt

He had promised himself he would be gentle when he kissed her. He was wrong.

It was a greedy kiss. He had never realized that a lady’s lips could be as voluptuous as a courtesan’s—but that the addition of surprise and innocence would make it a far headier experience than he had ever experienced.

To this point, Trent hadn’t particularly enjoyed kissing. It was too intimate. He’d never been selfish about giving pleasure, as he enjoyed bodily intimacy. All the same, he didn’t care for kissing.

Not until now.

When Merry started kissing him back, the shock of it sent a hum down his limbs that brought with it a strange feeling, as if the world were shaking around them.

One of her hands came around his neck and buried itself in his hair. Her mouth had been sweet, but now it was silk and fire. Her innocence was still there, but alongside it, a searing urgency.

Trent lost himself. Their tongues danced together and he felt a shudder go through Merry’s body. She made a whimpering sound in the back of her throat, and desire exploded down his spine.

It wasn’t until he became aware that one of his hands had settled on her thigh, and that certain parts of his body had taken on an ungentlemanly life of their own, that he regained a measure of sanity.

He drew his mouth away from hers, just far enough that he could still feel the erotic heat of her breath. He watched her face, his heart pounding unsteadily, as she opened her eyes.

A man could get lost in those eyes. Desire shimmered between them like a haze on a hot day in August.
Would she be outraged? Surprised?

She was dismayed.

“I loathe myself,” she mumbled, closing her eyes in anguish.

“It wasn’t a bad kiss.” Trent’s voice had a rasp that he’d never heard in it before.

Her eyes opened again. “You have the oddest sense of humor,” she said, frowning.

“Did you enjoy the kiss?”

“It was a very nice kiss. In fact—”

She caught back whatever she was about to say.

“I am a despicable person,” she said, her voice ragged.

He suppressed a smile. “I strongly disagree.”

Descriptions and details began tumbling out of her—about Bertie, who used to kiss her on a sofa (if Trent ever met him, he’d have to kill him for that), about Dermot, about Cedric . . . In short, the whole sorry saga of Merry’s romantic life thus far.

Trent didn’t want to discuss the three men she’d fancied herself in love with. He didn’t want to imagine that they had touched her. Or kissed her.

As Merry recounted her supposed sins, Trent cupped her face in his hands and lowered his lips to hers, so close that their noses brushed. She went silent. “You never kissed Cedric the way you just kissed me,” he stated.

Her eyes didn’t fail him. He could see the truth in them. “No,” she said with a little gasp. “No—that is to say, I won’t discuss it. This mustn’t ever happen again, Your Grace. I’m—”

He took her mouth in a thirsty, deep kiss.

Before now, first, second, and third kisses had been merely signposts on the road to bed. His mistresses had all been courtesans, refined women who chose their lovers and enjoyed his company as much as he did theirs.

Kissing Merry was no signpost. It was like making love, something he could do all night. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman, and nothing he’d ever thought to find in a lady.

Oh wow, that was a great excerpt. A really great scene. There’s so much to look forward to and I can’t wait for this book to come out. I just know that I’m going to love it!

Giveaway: We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for one of January’s features.

Are you as excited for this release as we are? Let us know how excited you are and what other books you’re excited for this year!

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa’s very first book that she “found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar”; later People Magazine raved that “romance writing does not get much better than this.” Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers’ Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists. After being a finalist for a RITA—the top award in the genre of romance fiction awarded by the Romance Writers of America—over ten times, she won in 2013.

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